Are you a potential Oxbridge applicant, teacher or parent? If so, this page is for you. Offering topical advice, links and updates, it will be a huge help in your Oxbridge preparation. To maximise your chances of a place, then read the latest edition of OXBRIDGE ENTRANCE: THE REAL RULES by Elfi Pallis, available from bookshops and Amazon

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Tuesday, 21 November 2017

FRETTING ABOUT AN UPCOMING OXBRIDGE INTERVIEW?

Still limbering up for your approaching
interview? Here is the key advice. For a start, do remember that the interview
itself is not a life-or-death matter. Your personal statement, school references
and, in most cases, test results will co-determine whether you are offered a place. So,
instead of fretting, you may want to just raise your game a bit further.

Try to at least skim any book (s) you mentioned in your UCAS
statement, this time focusing on methods rather than findings or facts. How
exactly did Gregor Mendel discover the genetic basis of heredity? How might an
archaeologist research the lives of illiterate, long dead people?

While being familiar with the periods covered in
your A-level history is essential for subject applicants, of course, you may
also want to ask yourself why some events within those still hugely resonate
with us, while others don’t.

An applicant for a course
requiring students to solve maths problems may need to practise showing (on
paper or board) how they arrived at the solution. It is not enough to just
verbally present the interviewer with it.

· Make
sure, too, that you can understand, define, spell and confidently use the main
subject terms. You don’t want to muddle up fission with fusion (or allusion
with illusion) on that long, stressful day.

Google-check you are up-to-date on major developments in the subject area you expressed an interest in. Have there been great new discoveries in cancer treatment or the causes of hurricanes?

· Practise
speculating when faced with an unfamiliar scenario. The idea is to draw on what
you know, but also use your imagination (or an appropriate
calculation). What would have happened if Churchill had died in 1939? Why
might an economic theory not work in real life?

In fact, recent sample questions released by Oxford suggest that these are steadily broadening to make up for very unequal class sizes and academic support, an approach shared by Cambridge: while interviewers will still expect a familiarity with the structure of
organelles (or the definition of an iambic pentameter), the ability to give strong
reasons for your views or look at an issue from more than one angle does count for much.

What this means is that a law applicant may have
to state why she believes a common type of behaviour should (or should not) be illegal,
while a would-be philosopher might be asked to suggest ethical reasons for caring
about the environment. The idea is to see if the student can apply what (s)he
has learnt to a different context or problem.

Reassured that these are far from insurmountable
challenges? If so, the next step is to remind yourself of the five crucial
interview skills:

· 1.
Listen carefully. Does your interviewer want you to discuss what happened in
1914 or in 1941? Are you being asked for a fact, an explanation or
your opinion?

· 2.
Order your thoughts before replying in a few reasonably short sentences. Don’t just ramble
on, hoping that the right answer will eventually come to you.

4. If applying for for Economics or a STEM-related
course, make sure you can do quick, basic sums in your head. You should also be able to draw a simple numerical table and make sense of one you are shown.

5. Speak in a clear, audible
voice rather than whisper: there is no point in giving a brilliant answer if
your interviewer cannot hear it.

Well, that's pretty much it, though you'll find much more detailed advice in the six interview chapters and three course-specific sections of OXBRIDGE ENTRANCE: THE REAL RULES. Best of luck!